Carmelo Anthony meets Rockets

If Carmelo Anthony wondered just how badly the Houston Rockets wanted him, that probably became clear as his limousine pulled up to the Toyota Center on Wednesday morning.

In a bigger than life image, the Rockets put Anthony in a Rockets uniform — the uniform maybe not coincidentally bearing the No. 7 that Anthony has worn in New York. And the number that Jeremy Lin currently wears in Houston. So you'd like to think that the Rockets certainly want Anthony more than they want Lin, who they pulled out from under the Knicks two summers ago with a bloated contract.

Lin, who didn't always fit well with Anthony during their brief time together in New York, responded with a bible verse on his Twitter account, reading, "Luke 6:29 — If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them."

Lin's shirt already is likely gone, with reports that the Rockets are assuring agents that they already have a deal in place to move Lin to make cap room.

"It's unfortunate that it's often hard to handle," Rockets GM Daryl Morey told Fox Sports in Houston. "Reality is it's standard practice. When we went after Chris Bosh a few years ago, we had him in [Luis] Scola's number. When we went after Dwight Howard, he had [Pat] Beverley's number.

"I get the sensitivity and I hate that it creates some hurt feelings. I don't like that, but that's obviously Carmelo Anthony's number, that's the number he wants. He told us that. Bottom line, if Carmelo comes, Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin have to be traded. It's just math. It's not personal. My job is every day figure out how to win. Sometimes it creates challenging situations."

But this day wasn't about Lin, no matter what number was photoshopped onto Anthony's image. And it wasn't about Asik, already traded to make room. Wednesday, like the day before in Chicago, was a full-scale recruiting effort.

The Rockets brought Dwight Howard and James Harden to the meeting, along with Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler, spending time at the Toyota Center, where Anthony toured the new facilities installed last year and then over to the state of the art training center. Howard, along with Rockets executives Morey and Gerrson Rosas, as well as assistant coach Greg Buckner, then went to lunch before Anthony and his agent, Leon Rose, jetted off to the next stop — Dallas.

In Dallas, the showy display was replaced by a private meeting at an undisclosed location with Mavs' owner Mark Cuban, coach Rick Carlisle, GM Donnie Nelson and their own star free agent, Dirk Nowitzki. Anthony arrived there late in the afternoon and was scheduled to fly to Los Angeles at night so he could join his last recruiting pitch today with the Lakers.

It might have been telling that Anthony crammed the two meetings in one day in Texas. Chicago has seemed the best fit for Anthony outside of New York. Both the Bulls and Rockets have work to do to fit in Anthony's salary — and are unlikely to be able to pay him the maximum starting salary of approximately $22 million, even as they pull off space-saving measures. The Bulls made it clear to Anthony that they'd like to keep Taj Gibson on the roster and — in what was described by one person as vague money talk — instead pointed to moving Carlos Boozer and making minor moves around that.

The Rockets would need to rid themselves of Lin, but it is believed that Anthony was assured the starting lineup would return intact, including restricted free agent Chandler Parsons.

Both the Rockets and Bulls used a championship as the difference between staying with the Knicks and taking a lesser deal to leave.

"I think it would be great," Howard told reporters after leaving the meeting. "The biggest thing about trying to win is sacrifice. We have to all do what's best for our team. We're all about winning. I think Carmelo, myself, James, we're at the stage of our career, nothing else matters. We have all the individual accolades. He's won scoring titles. He's been on the All-Star team. There's only one thing he's missing. It's the same thing with me. At this point, the only thing I want to do is win."

Carmelo Anthony meets Rockets

If Carmelo Anthony wondered just how badly the Houston Rockets wanted him, that probably became clear as his limousine pulled up to the Toyota Center on Wednesday morning.

In a bigger than life image, the Rockets put Anthony in a Rockets uniform — the uniform maybe not coincidentally bearing the No. 7 that Anthony has worn in New York. And the number that Jeremy Lin currently wears in Houston. So you'd like to think that the Rockets certainly want Anthony more than they want Lin, who they pulled out from under the Knicks two summers ago with a bloated contract.

Lin, who didn't always fit well with Anthony during their brief time together in New York, responded with a bible verse on his Twitter account, reading, "Luke 6:29 — If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them."

Lin's shirt already is likely gone, with reports that the Rockets are assuring agents that they already have a deal in place to move Lin to make cap room.

"It's unfortunate that it's often hard to handle," Rockets GM Daryl Morey told Fox Sports in Houston. "Reality is it's standard practice. When we went after Chris Bosh a few years ago, we had him in [Luis] Scola's number. When we went after Dwight Howard, he had [Pat] Beverley's number.

"I get the sensitivity and I hate that it creates some hurt feelings. I don't like that, but that's obviously Carmelo Anthony's number, that's the number he wants. He told us that. Bottom line, if Carmelo comes, Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin have to be traded. It's just math. It's not personal. My job is every day figure out how to win. Sometimes it creates challenging situations."

But this day wasn't about Lin, no matter what number was photoshopped onto Anthony's image. And it wasn't about Asik, already traded to make room. Wednesday, like the day before in Chicago, was a full-scale recruiting effort.

The Rockets brought Dwight Howard and James Harden to the meeting, along with Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler, spending time at the Toyota Center, where Anthony toured the new facilities installed last year and then over to the state of the art training center. Howard, along with Rockets executives Morey and Gerrson Rosas, as well as assistant coach Greg Buckner, then went to lunch before Anthony and his agent, Leon Rose, jetted off to the next stop — Dallas.

In Dallas, the showy display was replaced by a private meeting at an undisclosed location with Mavs' owner Mark Cuban, coach Rick Carlisle, GM Donnie Nelson and their own star free agent, Dirk Nowitzki. Anthony arrived there late in the afternoon and was scheduled to fly to Los Angeles at night so he could join his last recruiting pitch today with the Lakers.

It might have been telling that Anthony crammed the two meetings in one day in Texas. Chicago has seemed the best fit for Anthony outside of New York. Both the Bulls and Rockets have work to do to fit in Anthony's salary — and are unlikely to be able to pay him the maximum starting salary of approximately $22 million, even as they pull off space-saving measures. The Bulls made it clear to Anthony that they'd like to keep Taj Gibson on the roster and — in what was described by one person as vague money talk — instead pointed to moving Carlos Boozer and making minor moves around that.

The Rockets would need to rid themselves of Lin, but it is believed that Anthony was assured the starting lineup would return intact, including restricted free agent Chandler Parsons.

Both the Rockets and Bulls used a championship as the difference between staying with the Knicks and taking a lesser deal to leave.

"I think it would be great," Howard told reporters after leaving the meeting. "The biggest thing about trying to win is sacrifice. We have to all do what's best for our team. We're all about winning. I think Carmelo, myself, James, we're at the stage of our career, nothing else matters. We have all the individual accolades. He's won scoring titles. He's been on the All-Star team. There's only one thing he's missing. It's the same thing with me. At this point, the only thing I want to do is win."